Sanitary mouthpiece-protector for telephones.



APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, I9I5.

Patented Feb. 22,1916.

mammatto: nog' vEID'VVAIBJD R. GORMAN, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTCUT.

SANETARY MOUTHPIECE-PROTECTOR FOR TELEPHONES.

v Application filed January 5, 1915.

vTo all whom t may concern Be it known that l, EDWARD R. Gontran, of West Haven, in the town of Orange, in the county of New Haven, in the State of' Connecticut,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sanitary Mouthpiece-Protectors lfor Telephones, of which the following is'a specification.

My invention relates to a sanitary mouth piece protector` for telephones, and it has for its object to provide means for preventing the transmission of disease germs through contact with or proximity to the mouth pieces of telephones.

The invention consists in the novel protector and means for its attachment to the transmitter mouth piece as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specilication, Figure l is a front view of a telephone mouth piece embodying my improved protector. Fig. 2 is a similar view of one of the blanks or sections of which the protector is composed. Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. l. Fig. e is a central vertical lengthwise section through Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a front view. of the annular base or attaching pad upon which the blanks or sec tions forming the protector are secured or built up.

Referring to the drawings l0 designates the mouth piece of an ordinary telephone. lt is of the usual bell mouthed or outwardly iaring shape, and is provided with the screw threaded hub 1l at its inner end by means of which it can be screwed to the support, here requiring neither to be shown nor described. Across the inner end is extended the usual perforated head or partition l2 also requiring no further description.`

My invention comprises essentially a system or series of detachable sections or layers superimposed over one another and fitted to the mounth piece in a manner that permitstheir being readily removed singly, to provide a clean and uncontaminated surface each time that the telephone is required to be used, and successively presenting a new superficies for each user. ln carrying out the invention it is essential that4 the series of surfaces shall be susceptible of being readily attached to the mouth piece, without the use of tools or the employment of mechanicaly skill, andan important part of the invention -consists in the mechanism by .Whichthis result is'accomplished. The sani- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. @2, 19in.,

Serial No. 711.

tary protector and its means of attachment to the mouth piece of the telephone is described as follows.

An annular piece or base 13 of cardyeard or other suitable material is provided of such proportions that it will just freely pass over the end of the mouth piece l0, as in- 4 ldicated in the sectional view in Fig. 4. To the face of this annular part is glued or otherwise securely fastened an annular piece 18 of thinner and pliable material projecting'or overlapping upon the area of the hole throueh the base 13 to a certain extent as clearly siliown in Fig. 5, and the internally overlapping portion is slit at short intervals as at the points 14, which provide a fringe of flaps l5 all around the interior edge of the base or annular part 13. Said flaps in operation offer no hindrance to the act'of slipping the base upon the mouth piece with the fringe on the following side of the cardboard and therefore ini position to allow the flaps to readily swing back therefrom as it advances over the mouth piece, but in the reverse movement, in which the side of the cardboard having the fringeof iaps upon it becomes the advancing or leading part, the flaps will buckle toward the base, and obstruct its removal, eifectually preventing its displacement.

To the face of the aforesaid annular base is glued or otherwise suitably attached a series of bell shaped sections 1G superimposed one over another as shown in Fig. Ll. They are molded of reentrant shape with respect to the mouth piece, and thus are bent over at their outer part around the edge of the mouth piece, and penetrate within the bell mouthed cavity of the mouthpiece, the outermost section extending nearly to the partition l2. rifhe outermost section is the shortest and extends a comparative short distance into the mouth piece, the next succeeding section extends a trifle farther, so that it overlaps the first a certain amount, and each successive section overlaps the one preceding it. taken in the order from the outer side of the mouth piece inward. By means of this arrangement, it will be seen, that in operation, the innermost layer or section entirely covers all the others, and if removed the same is true 'of the next section, and of them all., Thus in operation, the removal of a section after the telephone has been used andy prior to its repeated use insures a clean surface on the interior of the mouth piece 'for such succeeding use, and neutralizes the .liability to germ transmission by such use.

The bell mounted conguration of the layers may be easily given to them by molds, using fiat paper or similar sheet material for the purpose.` Such cup like shape tends to render the built up cone or'pad of substantial construction, and Jrevent the detachment of the layers except as intended. To facilitate the ready detachment ofthe layers singly, as required, one or more aps 1,7 may be provided on the edge of each section, projecting from the circumference thereof as shown in Fig. 2 and folded over toward the center of the cone as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. These aps by slightly springing above the general surface of the pad, as shown in said figures, may be readily grasped by the thumb and finger, and the layer thus pulled 'off from the pad Without trouble. The removal of one layer-exposes the flaps of the next succeeding layer beneath it, which in turn may be detached by this Imeans.

The outer edges of the sections may simply be glued edgewise to the base abutting against it, by which arrangement they will collectively be held sufficiently securely for transportation, and for being mounted upon the mouth piece, but they will not adhere so tenaeiously as to prevent their ready detachment by single pieces by means of the flaps 17 for taking hold of them. As the` flaps of only the outermost section is eX- posed, it therefore is impossible to detach the sections by means of the iiaps in series or any Way except single layers, one at a time, as called for in use.

In the use of the protector the possibility of contagion by the inhalation of disease germs deposited upon the mouth piece of the telephone may be prevented by the simple precaution of tearing oli' the first section or layer of the pad just prior to speaking into the transmitter. As a further preventive, the sections may be treated with some antiseptic solution which will insure additional protection in the use or the device. After the sections are all. used, the base may readily be torn off from the mouth piece and a new pad mounted thereon in its place. The number of sections mounted upon a base, is governed by the thickness or' the material, and by the required pro portions of the cone, which should in no case be made too bulky or suiiiciently thick to obstruct the chamber of the mouth piece in transmitting sound.4

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A sanitary mouth piece protector for telephones comprising in combination a base plate receivable over the edge of the mouth piece and provided with a serie-Q no" flaps overlapping the orifice throughf'the plate adapted by buckling under to 'prevent the withdrawal of the plate over and from the edge of the mouth piece, and a series of layers of fabric fitting within each other and the mouth piece having their outer edges secured to the base plate and singly detachable therefrom.

2. A sanitary mouth piece protector for telephones comprising in combination a base plate receivable over the edge of the mouth piece and provided with -a series of flaps overlapping the oriice through the plate adapted by buckling under to prevent the- Withdrawal of the plate over and from the edge of the mouth piece, and a series of lay? ers of fabric {itting Within each other and the mouth piece having their outer edges secured to the base plate and singly detachable therefroml and provided with holding flaps by which they may be plucked singly from the plate and the series, substantially as andfor the purpose speciied.

Signed at New Haven, Connecticut, this second day of January, 1915. l EDWARD R. GORE/IAN. W'itnesses:

CHARLES SPREYER, GEORGE L. BARNES.'

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

